Coal Power Concern

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, coal has always been the country’s most important energy resource. Coal-generated electricity has played a central role in China’s electricity supply because of its low cost. As of November 2019, China’s coal-powered electricity capacity reached 1.03 billion kilowatts, accounting for half of the country’s electricity supply. The over-reliance on coal, however, has made it difficult for China to transform its energy structure. By the end of 2018, coal accounted for 27.2 percent of global energy consumption, but in China its proportion was as high as 58.2 percent, which contributed to China becoming the largest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide. In recent years, China has released ambitious plans to cut the use of coal, but at a time of growing environmental demands, economic downward pressure and trade frictions, energy use tests the wisdom of policy-makers and it remains a challenge to create a clean, safe and inexpensive energy structure.